Hajimemashite. Kyandasu desu. Hi everyone, my name is Candace (or Kyandasu in Katakana). I'm a college student who just joined the site after browsing about it for a while. My roommate and I are getting our first apartment, and to save money I'm going to be bringing my lunch to campus everyday. That's mainly why I went online to look for bento recipes, because I'd like my lunches to be bento.
I'm obsessed with everything Japanese, but my small budget keeps me from indulging in that obsession much. But I take Japanese lessons and am trying to develop a good Japanese cuisine cooking style. Japanese food is sometimes hard, and doesn't allow much room for error. Also, as a college student (though I'm home with my family right now) I don't have the most expansive kitchen. I do have a rice cooker though! Right now, I'm trying to make anman, which are sweet bread buns filled with azuki bean paste. Hopefully they turn out okay.

If you have any Japanese recipes that adjust well to western cooking appliances that might be found in a college student's home, I would be much obliged. Where my school is, asian foods are easily available, and there are asian markets. But where my family lives, there's only the small section in Safe Way and city market. So right now, the recipes available to me are minimal, but they will expand come august when I begin my sophomore year!

Anyway, I'm excited to start making bento and joining the community. It's seems like a really close community! ^_^ Thank you for welcoming me.
Douzo yoroshiku.
p.s.: If anyone speaks Japanese relatively well, I would love someone to talk to so I can practice over the summer! I only finished my first year, but I'm actually pretty good at the language. Thanks!

Hi there - I don't speak Japanese at all, so can't help you there, but welcome to Just Bento anyway. Good luck with your adventure too - leaving home and setting up yourself, even if it is shared with room mates, is quite exciting.

Thanks! Luckily I love my roommate; she's so sweet! I got very lucky in that my roommate from the dorms was so nice, so we decided we would be fine getting an apartment. Thank you so much for saying that, btw. I'm very excited, but also very nervous! I've never had to pay bills before. o.o Still, having my own room again and a kitchen and a bathroom that I only have to share with one person will be nice.

As far as bills go, on-line banking and Google Calendar are your friends. A joint bank account with your roommate, into which you put equal amounts of money, and out of which the bills are paid, is a Very Good Thing. Then as soon as the bills come in, you pay them on-line, but set up not to go out of your account until the day before they're due. That way you get maximum interest on your money, but don't forget to pay the bills. Organisation is key! Tell Google Calendar to remind you when to expect the various bills too, then if something gets lost in the mail you can chase it up before you get hit with an overdue fee.

Shopping for your kitchen gear will be fun too - I hope you have an IKEA nearby!

Thank you for the advise! I think I'll talk to my roommate about a joint account. Somehow, I have a feeling I'll have to remind my roommate about when the bills are due. She's responsible, but sometimes has trouble with taking care of things in time, and does many things last minute.

My parents just bought a bunch of new pots and pans and gave me their old ones, so I have most of my dishes taken care of. I need to buy some important appliances, though. Like a blender and a toaster...And then there's furniture, and a vaccuum and so many other things! You never really realize how much you need in a home till you're buying everything the first time. ^_^;; And my parents generally expect me to buy all of it on my own, except for a new bed, which will be my birthday present.